الفهرس 
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Abstract
Ovarian cancer is a relatively manageable malignancy when diagnosed at an early stage, but late-stage detection almost always translates into a poor prognosis. Researchers have been vigorously working on the identification of a more reliable biomarker to assist in early detection, as well as treatment- and general disease-monitoring.
Similar to ovarian carcinoma, endometrial malignancies tend to carry favorable prognosis when early detection is realized. Diagnosis at a later stage, however, typically coincides with a poor prognosis and a relatively low 5-year survival rate.
CA125 has been found to be over expressed in both ovarian carcinoma and endometrial carcinoma tissues, and increased CA125 serum levels have been evaluated as a biomarker for the detection and monitoring of both malignancies. However, the unsatisfactory sensitivity and specificity of the CA125 assay has prompted intensive efforts in the search for superior biomarkers.
Despite the many promising characteristics of CA125 for ovarian carcinoma diagnosis and monitoring, there are also several drawbacks. For example, in addition to marked overexpression in ovarian lesions, serum CA125 is frequently elevated in association with irritation of the peritoneum and mesothelium caused by benign conditions such as menstruation, pregnancy and the postpartum state. Likewise, elevated serum CA125 concentrations are often seen in other diseases, such as liver disease, congestive heart failure and primary liver cancer, especially if ascites is present. Furthermore, women with nonmalignant gynecological conditions, including benign ovarian cysts and endometriosis, tend to have serum CA125 concentrations above the upper limit of normal, which is arbitrarily set at 35 U/ml. As a result, false-positives and low specificities are major concerns in regard to the use of CA125 as an ovarian carcinoma marker.
Serum concentration of CA125 are elevated in only 10 – 20% of women with early stage endometrial carcinoma and only 25% of asymptomatic patients with recurrences will presented with elevated CA125 levels. Thus CA125’s application for endometrial cancer detection is essentially detected to advanced-stage diagnosis.
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